Threads
by DramaLexy
Summary: Fourth in my series after "Illogical Choices," "Blood and Water," and "Full Circle." The threads that make up our lives together can be twisted and complex - and fragile.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Threads

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: Fourth in my series after "Illogical Choices," "Blood and Water," and "Full Circle." The threads that make up our lives together can be twisted and complex - and fragile.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine, don't sue.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This takes place a few years after the end of "Full Circle" and involves more trials and celebrations for Nyota and Spock's family. Hope you enjoy and please leave feedback!

* * *

There were a few extra people crowded onto the Enterprise's bridge. The ship was currently at warp, traveling to its next planetary destination, and Kirk had taken advantage of the lull in their schedules to complete some administrative business.

"I've gotta admit, there are some nice perks to this job," he told his communications officer and friend with a smile. She mirrored it before he turned to the group assembled in the ship's command center, which included the senior staff and her two daughters.

"From the first time I met Uhura, she wouldn't let me get away with anything. I probably deserved that punch you threw at me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Probably?" Everyone laughed.

"I'm grateful that you continue to hold me to a high standard, and I know that this crew is better because you are on it. So, for outstanding service as the chief communications officer onboard the finest ship in the fleet, it's my pleasure to grant you the rank of Lieutenant Commander." He affixed a ceremonial second stripe to each of her sleeves. "Congratulations, Uhura."

"Thank you, Sir." The assembled crowd clapped and cheered as well.

Five-year-old Amanda was already reaching to give her mother a hug as she rejoined her family at the rear of the bridge. "Yay, Mommy!" she said as Spock handed her over to his wife.

"Yeah," thirteen-year-old Leryn agreed. "That's really cool, Mom. Good job."

"Thank you, thank you. I'm glad you guys were here."

"Was that the whole thing?" Leryn asked. "I want to get back to Engineering." She had been working in various areas around the ship as part of her schoolwork.

"That was it, go ahead," Nyota told her. "Be in the mess at 1800 hours for dinner." Leryn nodded before disappearing into the turbolift.

"Can I stay here with you?" Amanda asked her mother.

"This was a special occasion, princess. What was our deal on when you can start being on the bridge sometimes to learn about the ship?"

"I gotta reach the upper panel. I'm getting bigger; maybe I could do it."

Nyota smiled as she put her youngest down next to her station. "Can you reach it?" she asked.

Despite standing on her tiptoes, Amanda was nowhere near being able to touch the higher controls. "No," she despondently replied. "But I want to help on the ship like Leryn."

"Leryn is a lot older and bigger than you are. When she was younger, she wasn't allowed on the bridge either."

She sighed. "Okay."

Spock joined them. "I will take her back to school and then return," he told his wife.

"Thanks."

"And I am currently wondering if I have heard the complete story of how you and Jim met. Why exactly were you required to punch him?"

Nyota smiled, but didn't confirm or deny his statement. "Don't worry," was all she told him, "You never had anything to be concerned about."

* * *

At dinner that evening, Leryn shared with her family what she'd been working on that day. She'd been excited by the chance to put her mechanical talents to use actually working on the ship. Spending afternoons in engineering or other areas was a good balance with her other coursework.

"We installed upgraded components in the plasma manifolds for most of the deck," she told her parents. "Lieutenant Cummings really hates climbing around in the Jeffries Tubes, but I like it. It's kinda cozy and that's where all the fun stuff to play with is."

"I believe that you are also a third of a meter shorter than Lieutenant Cummings," Spock pointed out. "At a minimum."

She laughed. "True. He said he'll show me the impulse driver coil when it gets a systems check in two weeks if I finish the manual for it by then."

"Do not let your other coursework suffer as a result," Spock reminded her.

Leryn rolled her eyes. "I won't, Papa."

"We made a mural," Amanda spoke up.

Nyota smiled. "You did?"

"Uh-huh. Everyone in my class. We all got to paint the things we like. So it's like a big picture of all of us. I put my family and music notes."

"It sounds like an…interesting project," Spock told her.

"K'Lah put her family, too," Amanda spoke of one of her closest friends. "Even her little brother or sister that's not born yet. I want a little brother, too."

Spock noticed that his wife paled at that comment. "You had a little brother," he quietly told his youngest.

Amanda frowned. "But he lives with Grandma in heaven. I want a little brother that lives here with us, to play with."

Leryn kicked her sister's leg under the table. "Shut up, stupid," she told the little girl. "You're gonna make Mom cry."

"Don't call her stupid," Nyota reprimanded. "And I'm fine…Really," she added when no one else at the table looked convinced. "I'm sorry, princess," she told Amanda, "But I don't…I don't think you're going to get a little brother." She looked down.

"So…" Leryn tried to break the tension. "My birthday's coming up next week."

"You have been reminding us on a daily basis for the past five days," Spock told her.

She smiled. "That's 'cause I haven't heard any plans yet."

* * *

Later that evening, once the girls were in their room, Spock confronted his wife about their earlier topic of conversation. "Are you truly all right?" he asked as he joined her in their bedroom. "You appeared quite disturbed at dinner."

"I was a little, but…it's a normal question for her to ask, right? Most kids wish for another sibling when they're young."

"Most children do not have to be concerned about whether the process of fulfilling that wish will kill their mother."

"She doesn't need to know about that, not when she's this young. Who she is isn't her fault."

Spock slowly nodded. "Agreed."

Nyota sighed. "After everything that happened with Amanda, I really thought things would be different. He even had iron-based blood. I don't think I'll ever understand…" Silence lingered for a long moment. Spock had endeavored over the past two years to forget the day he'd found her in their quarters, unconscious and bleeding.

"I am unsure is there is actually a reason to be understood," he quietly said.

She quickly wiped her eyes. "So we've heard the princess' vote. How about yours – do you still want to have another child?"

"What I want is irrelevant. It would be illogical to risk your life again when we already have two perfectly healthy children.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Her answer was a gentle kiss.

"I already have more than I ever thought I would."

She smiled. "I love you."

"Mommy?" a voice broke in, and they both looked to see Amanda in the doorway, dressed in her nightgown. "Can you read me a story?"

"Did you brush your teeth?" The little girl frowned. "Go brush and I'll be there in a minute."

"O-kay," she replied.

"By the way," Nyota said to Spock as she got up from the bed. "Are we going to leave Leryn hanging, or tell her about her birthday party?"

"I believe you are the one who said that a surprise party would be enjoyable for her…and hearing her whine is moderately humorous for us."

* * *

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Listening to Leryn complain about the lack of plans for her birthday was really only amusing for about a day or two, then they had to come clean about the fact that a party was already planned. The uninhabited planet that Enterprise was currently orbiting made a nice backdrop out the mess hall windows during the occasion.

"Happy Birthday!" everyone assembled yelled as Leryn and her family came into the mess. The now-fourteen-year-old grinned as she saw her guests. All of her friends from school were there, as well as most of the crewmembers that made up her extended family onboard the ship.

"Thanks everybody," she told them. "This is really great. I can't believe I'm fourteen!" She quickly disappeared off with her friends to socialize.

"She's really a teenager now," Kirk teased Nyota and Spock as he approached.

"We were already aware," she replied. "It took her almost an hour to decide on what to wear today. She doesn't have enough clothes for it to take that long to get dressed!"

Jim laughed. "Oh, God. Just think – by the time she's finally out of that phase, you'll have another going into it."

"Don't wish her life away," Nyota chastised him, hugging Amanda a little closer. "I can't even wrap my head around the fact that she's going to be six in a couple weeks. Six!"

"I get a party, too, right?" Amanda asked her parents.

"Yes, you do," they promised.

Kirk chuckled. "Wow, it's really gonna be a string of celebrations for you guys, isn't it?"

* * *

They had a few different treats to eat, including a good old-fashioned Earth-style birthday cake. Leryn tore through a pretty impressive stack of presents; her 'uncles' onboard the ship spoiled her rotten and most of her friends had gotten her clothes or other little items. She was back talking with her best friends when she heard a voice call her name. She turned and found one of her classmates behind her.

"Hi, Ryan."

He smiled. "Happy Birthday. I, uh, I got something for you." He produced a small box from behind his back and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She untied the ribbon and pulled off the lid to discover a necklace with a green and amber stone. "Oh, wow…"

"Do you like it?"

She grinned. "Yeah, I love it. Thank you!"

"I-I can put it on you if you want?" Her smile turned a little shy as she nodded before turning around and holding her hair out of the way.

Across the room, Spock had seen the exchange. Nyota put a hand on his arm before he could take a step toward their oldest. "Easy," she told him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I wish to be certain of his intentions."

"I'm sure you'll be amazing as a terrifying overprotective father, but don't do it here."

"She is too young to be accepting jewelry from a friend of the opposite gender."

"I agree, and we'll talk to her about it later. But, if I remember correctly, aren't you the one who comes from a race where our youngest daughter would be matched with her husband in only a year?"

That comment was definitely not appreciated. "There are many rules that dictate behavior between a joined couple until they reach the age where they can be officially wed. I am fully aware that other races do not have such limits on their conduct. I have heard enough stories from male members of this crew and students at the Academy to know that I do not believe it will be appropriate for Leryn to engage in courtship for several more years."

Nyota just smiled. "We'll talk about it later."

* * *

Leryn ended up staying in the mess hall with some of her friends from school even after the party ended. When she eventually did get home, she found that Spock was helping Amanda practice on his Vulcan lyre, while Nyota looked over reports.

"That was near flawless," he told his daughter as she finished the song.

"Yeah, munchkin, you're getting really good," Leryn added. Amanda smiled.

"Thank you. Did you have fun at your party?"

"Yeah, I did," she replied. "Hey, um, Mom, Dad? Can I ask you a question?"

"I believe you already have," Spock pointed out. Leryn rolled her eyes.

"That got old a long time ago, Dad."

Nyota laughed. "What's your question?"

"Ryan invited me to go hiking on the planet tomorrow. Can I go?"

"Who else will be in attendance?" Spock asked her.

"Uh, it would just be us. We were going to ride along with one of the away teams on a shuttle in the morning."

He shook his head. "No, you may not go."

Leryn frowned. "Why?"

"I do not approve of the idea of you going alone."

"We'll only be a kilometer or so from the team!" He didn't respond, so she tried another tactic. "Come on, Mom, please?"

"Hey, don't do that," she told the teen, seeing straight through her attempt to pit her parents against each other. "I agree with your father. We haven't gotten very detailed scans of the planet yet. We don't know a lot about native creatures or their weather patterns. It could be dangerous. I don't think it's a good idea, either."

"It is not appropriate for you to be alone with this or any other boy at your age," Spock told her.

"I'm fourteen!"

"Precisely."

She sighed. "Well then what if Sierra and Adair come with us, too? Then that's four people, and we'll all have comm. devices and we'll be really careful."

"Why don't you see if you can stay with the away team for their survey?" Nyota counter-suggested. "I'm sure you could learn a lot from the experience, and we'd feel better knowing you weren't off wandering in the wilderness."

Spock, however, didn't want to hear any other ideas. "She's not going," he declared.

"But, Dad – "

"No. You have a sufficient number of things to do in order to keep you occupied onboard the ship. Perhaps you can spend some time working on your term project for your science course."

Leryn eyed the object he was talking about: a small robot that she'd designed, which was currently sitting on the table by the couch. She grabbed the machine and hurled it across the room before heading to her bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

Amanda warily eyed her parents once her sister was gone. Leryn had been getting into little battles with them recently over things from her clothes to her schoolwork, but nothing like the explosion she'd just witnessed.

"Well, that went well," Nyota muttered.

"Her behavior isn't logical," Spock pointed out. She laughed.

"She's a teenager – illogical by definition. I will point out, however, that you were also being rather stubborn. We could have worked something out with her…"

Amanda tuned out the rest of their conversation, debating her father's declaration. She'd been trying to figure out what was going on with their family lately, but her five-year-old brain was having trouble. However, it now had all clicked. She knew two facts were true: logic was very important to Spock, and people fight when they don't like each other. Therefore, if Leryn wasn't logical, then that must mean that their father didn't like her anymore. It was a scary thought, and meant that if Amanda wanted to keep from ending up like her sister, she would have to be logical about everything so that Spock would always like her.

"Hey, princess," Nyota's voice cut into her thoughts. "Sorry you had to hear all that. How about we get you ready for bed, okay?"

Amanda didn't feel tired, but arguing against bedtime was usually useless, which probably meant it was illogical. "Okay," she quickly replied.

* * *

TBC...

**A/N: Thanks for all the feedback I got!**


	3. Chapter 3

Nyota hoped they'd get a chance to work things out in the morning. Perhaps some sleep would lead to cooler heads. She got up and fixed breakfast for the family; Spock had a shift, but she was off and the girls didn't have school.

"Mommy, will you do my hair?" Amanda asked as she came out of her room, holding her brush in one hand and her favorite teddy bear in the other.

"After breakfast, princess, okay? It's so long that it would take way too much time to do it now." De-tangling Amanda's nearly-waist-length locks was one of the things Nyota looked forward to least in the mornings, but the little girl had staunchly refused to have her hair cut for the past few years.

"Okay."

"Breakfast is almost ready. Where's your sister?"

"In the bathroom. She's been in there forever."

"Can you go tell her to come eat?" Amanda nodded and left.

"Good morning," Spock told his wife as he came out of their bedroom.

"Morning. We've got oatmeal, sausage, and fruit."

Leryn exited her room and headed straight for the door. "I'm going to go meet Sierra to work on our lit project," she told her parents as she passed. "We'll be busy most of the day."

"Don't you want something to eat?" Nyota asked. Leryn considered it for a moment before grabbing one of the pieces of fruit that was on the table.

"Thanks," she said before leaving.

"So much for getting to talk to her," Nyota murmured to herself.

* * *

They at least had a nice breakfast with Amanda before Spock headed for the bridge. Nyota cleaned up while the little girl got dressed so she could get her hair done.

"You ready, yet, princess?" Nyota called to her youngest as she tidied up the living area a bit.

"Almost." Amanda appeared out of her room a moment later and her mother almost dropped the PADD she was holding. "What's wrong, Mommy?"

"Sweetheart, what did you do to your hair?" Nyota asked when she regained the ability to speak. She reached to finger one of the little girl's locks, which was now only about chin-length. A few random sections were slightly longer or shorter, proof that her haircut had not been done by a professional.

"I cut it," Amanda easily replied.

"I can see that, but why? I thought you loved your hair?"

"You always say how long it takes to brush it. It's not logical to have it so long."

Nyota took both of her hands. "Listen to me. Do not take scissors to your own hair again, okay? You could have hurt yourself."

"I know how to cut," Amanda protested. "I learned when I was three."

The hackjob that she'd done to herself said otherwise. "Uh-huh. Did you use a mirror when you did this fashion statement?"

"For what?"

That was the end of that conversation. "Okay, where are the scissors? Let me see if I can even this out…"

* * *

Jim found the story hilarious when he happened to run into Nyota and Amanda in the mess hall later that day. Spock hadn't seen his daughter yet, but heard the whole story from his best friend.

"She's going to be a handful," Jim teased him that afternoon on the bridge.

"She has learned from her sister," he replied.

A scant moment later, the comm. terminal above his station beeped. "McCoy to Spock."

"Go ahead, Doctor."

"I think I've got a patient down here for you to claim."

Jim's eyes went wide. "What did the kid do now?"

However, the patient waiting for him wasn't Amanda. Leryn was sitting on a bed, looking rather miserable with her left arm in a splint. "What happened?"

"A climbing accident, apparently," McCoy replied. Leryn's eyes were focused on the floor.

"Climbing what?" Spock asked. When it became obvious that Leryn wasn't going to answer, McCoy spoke up again.

"She was transported up from the surface with the Harrington boy…It's a clean break; I'll get the bone knitter set up and repair it. She'll be home in time for dinner."

* * *

Nyota and Amanda also arrived in Sickbay while Leryn was being treated. The teen was silent the entire time, staring at the ceiling while the doctor worked. Nyota held her free hand; regardless of how much trouble Leryn was going to be in – and it was A LOT of trouble – she wasn't going to let her daughter be alone while she was hurt.

Spock went back to the bridge to finish his shift, so Leryn went home with her mother and sister. She was sore, but a lot better off than what she would have been without the knitter.

"Do you want to go lie down?" Nyota asked Leryn as they came in the door.

"No, not really…you and Papa are really mad, aren't you?"

"We'll save that conversation for when your father gets home, okay?" She meekly nodded. "How about you either get some rest, or maybe actually work on some of that reading for your literature assignment?"

Leryn opted for the latter, hoping it could win her a couple points with her parents. She was on the couch, reading a PADD, when her father got home. She knew it was a bad sign when he immediately went to join her mother for a whispered conversation in the kitchen before being ready to deal with her. He looked perfectly calm as they joined her in the living area; Nyota sat with her daughter on the couch, but Spock remained standing. "You disobeyed us," was all he initially said.

Leryn sighed. "I'm sorry, Papa. I just…I really wanted to go."

"How did you get down to the surface?" Nyota asked.

"A shuttle. I, um, told the away team I had permission from you to go," she guiltily explained.

"We placed trust in you by allowing you to participate in activities without supervision," Spock told her. "You dishonored that trust when you lied to us and to other members of this crew."

"Can you understand now that we make rules for a reason?" Nyota asked her. "We told you that going alone could be dangerous."

"We took comm. equipment," Leryn protested. "We were beamed back to the ship right away."

"With your ulna broken in two places," Spock pointed out. "Although packing emergency equipment was intelligent, you failed to endeavor to avoid needing to use it. Free-climbing an eight meter ledge was not a sound idea."

Leryn looked away. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"I believe a suitable punishment will assist you in learning from this experience."

"On Earth," Nyota told her, "It's called being grounded. You go to school, you come home. That's your life for at least the next two weeks. No visiting friends' quarters, no hanging out in the mess hall, no fencing lessons with Sulu. After two weeks, we'll see how you've done and decide what comes next."

"What about working around the ship?" she timidly asked, afraid of the answer.

"I believe that would be classified as a privilege," Spock replied. Leryn looked crushed.

"Let's see how this week goes," Nyota told her, "And then we'll talk about starting back again." Despite being a privilege, it was also a beneficial educational experience.

"But this week is when they're doing the driver coil maintenance in engineering," Leryn pointed out. "Please, I did all the reading already; I don't want to miss it."

"Perhaps you will now more carefully consider the consequences to your actions."

* * *

Amanda looked up from the toy she was playing with when the door to her bedroom opened and Leryn came inside. The older girl chucked the PADD she was still holding at the wall in anger and frustration before flopping down to sit on her bed.

"Were Mommy and Daddy mad?" Amanda asked her sister. A sardonic laugh was her only reply. Amanda got up from the floor and picked up her favorite teddy bear from her bed. "Here," she told her sister, offering it to her. "Hold Jim-Bear. He always makes me feel better when I'm sad."

Leryn sighed. "I don't need your bear, midget."

Amanda shrugged. "You shouldn't be mad at Mommy and Daddy."

"Why not?"

"It's logical to get in trouble for breaking the rules."

Leryn didn't want to hear about logic. "You're so annoying!" she told her sister. "Shut up and go away. You don't understand anything about anything."

Cowed, Amanda did as she asked, taking her bear and leaving the room. Leryn sighed as she stared up at the ceiling. The worst part was that her little sister was right.

* * *

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

When Leryn arrived in her classroom the next day, Ryan slid into the seat next to her. "So how much trouble did you get into?" he asked.

She laughed. "Do you know what being grounded is?"

"Not from personal experience. How long?"

"Two weeks. I'd never heard of it before. Apparently I can't go to any of my friends' quarters, I can't hang out in the mess hall, and I'm not allowed to do work-study for at least a week."

"Ouch. So my name is connected to your first grounding? I don't think that's what I want to remembered by."

Leryn smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm really sorry you got hurt. We should have been more careful."

She shrugged. "No permanent damage. I'm really glad we got to see that waterfall. I'd never seen anything like it before in my life."

"Really?"

"Nope. If I could live next to something that beautiful, I wouldn't mind being on a planet for a long time."

Ryan smiled. "Life planetside isn't THAT bad, you know."

"I know. I just haven't ever really experienced it for that long. I like being in space."

Their teacher moved to the front of the room. "All right," she called over the noise of her dozen talking students, "Let's get started."

* * *

Although she'd tried to shrug off her punishment, Leryn was still upset with her parents – especially her father – for making her miss the activities around the ship that she'd wanted to be a part of. After two days of getting nothing but one-word answers from her oldest daughter (and often not even that), Nyota decided to try using the carrot instead of the stick. She got up early to make breakfast and invited Leryn to help, just like they used to do when she was younger.

"So you really wanted to spend time with your friend, huh?" she asked at one point. Leryn wordlessly shrugged. "Do you like him?" Another shrug. "I'm fluent in a lot of languages, sweetheart, but your father's the mind-reader. How about you try something I'm going to understand?"

"I guess…I don't know…"

"Well that's a start."

Leryn sighed. "All of the girls in my class think Ryan's cute. They talk about him a lot."

"I see."

"It was really cool when he asked me to go with him. I was the person that everyone else wanted to be."

Nyota smiled. "Mmm, that can be a pretty nice rush."

"Yeah…I felt grown up. I liked it. You and Papa always treat me like a kid; I'm not little like Amanda anymore."

"I'm sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but in some ways, you still are a kid. Your father and I are adjusting to the fact that you're getting older, but you are still fourteen. And just barely."

"I didn't ACTUALLY just have my birthday, you know," Leryn pointed out. "That's just my birthday for you guys. I was probably already fourteen."

Nyota hated when she brought up things like that. Leryn had learned early that reminding her mother that she wasn't REALLY her mother was an easy way to bring discussions to a quick end. "Just for us, huh?" she quietly asked. "You know, maybe we – or at least I – have trouble thinking about you getting older because I feel a little bit like I missed out on a full childhood with you."

Leryn frowned, aware that she was probably flirting with a line that shouldn't get crossed. "Sorry, Mom. I guess I never thought about it that way."

She smiled a little. "We're working on it, I promise, just be patient. And you can help your own case, too. If you don't want to be treated like a child, then don't act like one – throwing that robot across the room was the kind of thing Amanda might do."

She sighed. "I know. I get so frustrated when I try to talk to Papa about anything. He's like a tritanium wall! It makes me so mad. Sometimes I wish I could just yell and scream or something until he shows some emotion."

Nyota smiled. "I can sympathize with that. We don't always agree on everything, and I also used to get easily frustrated arguing with him. I'd suggest talking about it with him."

Leryn shook her head. "He wouldn't understand."

"You won't know until you try." Leryn was noticeably silent, and Nyota decided not to push. "Can you go get your sister while I put everything on plates?"

"Sure."

* * *

That evening, Amanda was playing with a puzzle when her father approached her. "Do you know what happened to this?" Spock asked as he showed her his lyre. A few red and blue marks ran across the wood base of the instrument.

Amanda shrugged, though not very convincingly. "I don't know…maybe?"

It wasn't as if he was asking questions he didn't already know the answer to. "Did you use it?"

She slowly nodded. "Yeah."

"Had you been working on an art project earlier?"

"Yeah…I'm sorry."

"You know that you are to ask permission before using something that does not belong to you."

"You weren't home," Amanda pointed out.

"There was nothing preventing you from waiting until I was off duty to practice. You would not like it if someone took one of your toys without permission and soiled it, would you?"

Amanda looked down. "No…I'm sorry." At the time, getting some extra practicing had seemed logical – her father would be happy with the progress she'd made. However, she had apparently miscalculated and had the opposite effect. How was she supposed to figure this out?

"If you would like to practice, you may, but please be more careful."

"I will," she promised.

Spock headed off to see if he could clean the instrument, and Amanda went over to the computer terminal. After calling up one of the educational programs, she searched for the definition of logic: reasoned and reasonable judgment. She scrolled through all of the other applicable meanings for the word, but none of them told her HOW to guarantee that she was always logical. That was the key she needed if she wanted to avoid making her father unhappy again.

As she thought about their conversation a few minutes earlier, she realized that perhaps there was something else she needed. Her father had certainly been upset with her, but didn't show it at all, in his voice or his expression. No one else she knew stayed that calm. Maybe not showing emotions made him have "reasoned and reasonable judgment." It was at least worth a try.

* * *

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning, Amanda decided to put her new plan in place. She did her very best not to smile or get excited about anything that was said or done. When she failed to react as expected to the idea of spending the afternoon in one of the recreation rooms, Spock and Nyota started to get a little concerned.

After they finished eating, Spock pulled his youngest aside. "Why are you behaving in this way?" he asked her.

"I want to be like you," she replied. "I want to be Vulcan, to be logical."

"Suppressing one's emotions is not a game. It requires years of training and practice."

Amanda frowned; it sounded very hard. "Training like school?"

"Precisely. I can begin to instruct you, if you wish to know more."

She wasn't sure what she wanted, but she knew that she needed to be like her father in order to keep him happy. That was what mattered. "Okay," she told him. "I want to be trained."

* * *

After a week, Leryn's grounding from her work-study assignment was lifted, although she still wasn't allowed to have a social life. That was less of an inconvenience to her, though; she could see her friends during school, but had really missed being able to help out around the ship.

Her task for her first week back was to work in one of the science labs. It wasn't exactly the most exciting job, but it was nice to be back. As she worked at one of the computer terminals, she was surprised to see Ryan enter the room. "What are you doing here?" she asked as he approached.

"Came to keep you company."

She smiled. "I'm going to get in trouble if somebody decides to tell my father that I was just hanging out instead of working."

"Can't have that." After looking around to make sure that no one else was paying attention (the lab was mostly empty) he ducked down and sat behind the terminal Leryn was at, out of sight to everyone else in the room. She laughed. "Shh," he told her. "You're going to look like a crazy person talking to yourself."

"Thanks. Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"

"Introductory Statistical Mechanics. I wasn't interested. So are you still grounded from anything besides work?"

Leryn made sure she kept her eyes on the computer screen and talked quietly. "Yeah, for at least the rest of the week."

"Well, there was something I wanted to show you tonight."

"Trust me, I'd much rather go with you than be stuck at home."

"Tell them you have to work on a special assignment. Here in the lab or in engineering or something."

She shook her head. "There's no way that would work. I'm sure that after what happened before, they'd check up on me and make sure there was really something going on."

"Well…you could sneak out."

"No way."

"Why not? It's for a good cause isn't it?"

"Yeah, but still…"

"Wait until your parents go to sleep, and then sneak out. It's easy; I did it to my mom on Earth all the time."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that why she sent you here to live with your father?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Come on, are you going to see my surprise or not?"

Leryn bit her lip, thinking about it. She was pretty sure she could slip out unnoticed, and really missed being able to just hang out with friends like normal. "Okay, I'll do it."

* * *

That night, long after she was supposed to be in bed, Leryn waited and listened to make sure that her parents had gone to sleep before sneaking from her bedroom and out of their quarters. She took corridors she thought would be the least occupied along the way to where Ryan had said to meet up, back where the warp nacelles connected to the engineering section of the ship. He was already there waiting for here.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

Ryan grinned. "It's a surprise." He toggled the hatch to the Jeffries Tube beside him and gestured for her to climb inside. "Come on, let's go."

They made their way up several levels within a little-used area of the ship, and down access-ways along the starboard nacelle. As Leryn reached a juncture point and started to climb out of the tube, she realized that her feet didn't stay on the floor. Her attempt to pull herself out of the passage propelled her forward and she started to float away.

"Whoa," she cried, reaching for something to grab onto.

Ryan laughed as he followed her. "I found out from my dad that the gravity plating in this section failed. Since hardly anyone ever has to come out here unless something goes wrong, nobody's really been that concerned with fixing it before we get back to spacedock."

"Okay, this is definitely weird," Leryn proclaimed as she managed to grab a hold of a ladder and stabilize herself.

"Have you ever actually felt microgravity before?"

"I think the plating failed one time on my ship when I was little – the ship that I was born on, not here. I was really young, though. I don't remember what it was like."

Ryan pushed off from the wall, allowing himself to float across the room, turning in a somersault as he went. "I used to read in history books about the first space vehicles. The moon capsules and Space Shuttle and the Mars landers. I always wondered what it was like for them to do this – adapt to a completely different environment. Gravity plating definitely makes our lives easier, but this…" he pushed off again and floated over to her, "This is really being in space."

Leryn laughed. "I still think I like being able to walk around."

"That's because you haven't tried floating. Come on, aim for that panel over there."

"I don't know about this."

"You'll like it, I promise. Ready? One, two…" They pushed off together and drifted across the room. Both were laughing as they got holds on the ledge on the other side. "See?"

"Okay, it is fun." They both floated across the room, tumbling and spinning as they went. It was almost like magic, the freedom to be able to 'fly' through the air. At one point, they nearly collided in the middle of the room, and each grabbed onto the other to steady themselves.

"You okay?" Ryan asked.

Leryn nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." After a moment of hesitation, he leaned forward and kissed her. "What was that for?" she shyly asked when they broke apart.

"Because I like you. Didn't you want me to?" She smiled and returned the kiss.

They were drifting across the room toward the floor, and Ryan grabbed the ladder with one hand to make sure they didn't keep floating around. Leryn pulled away when she realized that his other hand was under her shirt. "Stop," she told him as she tried to get up. The lack of gravity and his position on top of her made it difficult.

"What do you mean, stop?" he asked.

"I don't…This has been fun, but I don't want things to go any farther."

He smiled, leaning over to kiss her again. "That's really funny."

Leryn finally also got a grip on the ladder and shoved him away. "Ow!" he exclaimed as he was unable to stop himself from hitting the wall. "What are you getting so bent out of shape for?"

"I don't know where you think this is headed, but I don't want to go any farther than we already have. Not now."

He gave her a somewhat condescending smile. "All right, fine. If you're going to be a baby about it, I'll keep my hands to myself, okay?" He held both hands up in what was supposed to be a placating gesture. However, when he tried to kiss her again, Leryn kicked him.

"I-I'm sorry," she said as he doubled over and floated away. "I thought we were just...we'd just hang out. I-I didn't think…" Unsure how to finish that sentence, she crawled back into the Jeffries Tube and left.

* * *

TBC...

**A/N: Thanks so much for all of the feedback I've gotten!!! I'm glad that everyone's enjoying the story so far.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

After getting back to the main section of the ship, Leryn still had to sneak home. She was fortunate not to run into anyone she knew in the ship's corridors, and made it back into her bedroom without alerting her parents. Once there, she went into her bathroom in order to inspect the damage.

She had a pretty nice bump on her shoulder from the ladder that was starting to turn purple, but she'd just have to live with it. Looking up at her reflection in the mirror, she hastily wiped away her tears. Crying wouldn't do her any good now; she'd gotten herself into this mess unaided. Her parents had warned her that being alone with Ryan wasn't a good idea. She could practically hear her father going 'I told you so' – or whatever the uptight, monotone Vulcan equivalent would be. However, if he knew the truth, that reprimand would get upstaged by the one she'd receive for sneaking out in the first place. She only had another week left in her grounding (hopefully) so there was no way she could tell her parents what had happened. She would deal with everything by herself – wasn't that what adults did?

The only problem with that was the fact that she didn't feel quite so grown up anymore.

* * *

The next day at school, when Leryn returned to her desk after lunch, she noticed an object sitting on her chair: a piece of ice the size of a bar of soap. The note beside it – which was getting wet as the ice melted – read FOR THE ICE PRINCESS.

"Thought you'd feel more at home," a voice said, and she turned to see Ryan behind her.

She picked up the ice and threw it at him. "Leave me alone." He just laughed as he dropped the cold, wet shape in the trash.

A couple other girls from the class entered the room and Ryan approached them, draping his arm over one girl's shoulders and sending a pointed look at Leryn before beginning to talk with them. She turned away. Would any of her friends really do what he wanted? Would that actually make them better than her? The whole thing seemed so stupid. She wondered if she had ever really liked Ryan, or just liked the idea of having a boy be interested in her. As it turned out, he was no prince, and everything seemed so much more complicated now.

"Everyone, take your seats," their teacher said as she came in the room and tapped a few commands on the computer terminal at the front of the room. Leryn looked down as her own workstation lit up and her mind focused on what was going on. They had a test today, which was obviously beginning now. It felt like she was in a fog. After trying to read through the first couple of problems and failing to be able to concentrate, she got up and went over to her teacher's desk. "I need to leave."

The woman frowned. "It's the middle of an exam. You can't possibly have finished already."

"No, but I don't feel well."

She gave her a curious look, but nodded. "All right. Talk to me tomorrow about making up the test as soon as possible."

* * *

When Nyota got home that evening after her shift, she found Spock and Amanda sitting on the floor in the living room, both meditating. The sight left her conflicted. Amanda opened one eye to see who had joined them and cracked a smile when she saw her mother.

"Focus," Spock told his daughter without even having to open his eyes to look at her. She instantly closed her eye again.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nyota told him, "But we should go get dinner if Amanda's going to be in bed on time. Where's Leryn?"

"In our room," the little girl reported.

"We will continue tomorrow," Spock told her, and she nodded.

"Leryn, come on, we're going to go eat," Nyota called to her. "So how did you do?" she asked Amanda while they waited.

The little girl shrugged. "I don't know. Good, I guess."

"There is much for her to learn," Spock told his wife.

"Well, what do you think so far?"

Amanda shrugged again. Truthfully, it had been near torture to sit still for that long, but she wasn't going to admit that. "I don't know," she repeated.

"Leryn?" Nyota called again when she still hadn't joined them a moment later.

"I'm not hungry," they could hear her yell back through the closed door.

"Are you all right?" Spock inquired.

"I'm fine. I just don't feel like eating."

"Are you sure?" Nyota asked.

"Yes, I'm fine!"

"I'm hungry," Amanda told her mother.

"Then I guess we should go."

* * *

Later on, after the girls had gone to bed and Nyota and Spock were left to clean up the living room, she brought up the topic of their daughter's training. "Do you really think this is the best thing for her?" she quietly asked her husband.

"Amanda is the one who requested it."

"I know that, and I think it's good that she tries it, but…before we get too far down this road, I just want to step back and consider if this is right. She's not even six years old, Spock. As smart as she is, she's still a little girl, and this is a big choice for her to make. What comes next? Do we send her to your father to be fully trained on the colony? Split up our family?"

"I…I am uncertain."

"I'm not saying this is a bad idea, I just want to make sure we've all thought about where it's leading her…When I was six years old, I told my parents that I wanted to go to a technical academy. I didn't really have any interest in the material at the time, but my best friend was going there and I wanted to be in school with her. That was all that I cared about. Looking back now…I don't think I'd be where I am today if I hadn't gone to that school, but I had zero appreciation for my future at the time. I'm honestly not sure why my parents said yes; we could barely afford it, and I'm not sure what they thought I was going to grow up to be."

"They saw the opportunity that lay before you."

"Perhaps. But maybe I would have hated it. Maybe it would have all been a waste."

"There is no way to know for sure."

"Just like we can't know what will make Amanda happy as she gets older. We do know, however, that she will have a very hard time on the Colony, if she went to school there…You've shared your mind with me, Spock, and I know some small part of what you endured as a child. I don't want that for her."

"There is no simple answer, and there are no guarantees…I feel an obligation to pass on my culture to her. As long as she wants to learn, I cannot deny her that."

She slowly nodded. "Maybe I'm just afraid of losing her…I've gotten to know her as our little ball of energy and emotion. It would be hard to see that change."

"I understand. We will take each obstacle as it comes."

* * *

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7

Leryn's grounding was finally lifted and she could go back to doing whatever she wanted with her free time. Considering what was going on at school, however, she wasn't too anxious to hang out with her classmates. Picking up a few extra assignments around the ship was a better way to keep busy.

As she came into her family's quarters one evening after working in the science labs, she was surprised to see that her parents were sitting on the couch, seemingly waiting for her. "What's going on?" she apprehensively asked.

"Have a seat," Spock told her, getting up so that she could take his place. "We received a notice from your teacher today that you decided than an examination in your differential equations course was an optional activity."

Leryn looked down. "I, um, wasn't feeling well that day."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nyota asked as she sat down with her. "Or, better still, why haven't you tried to make up the exam?"

She shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal. It's a large part of your grade for the semester."

"Successfully mastering the subject will be critical for moving on to the more advanced courses required for applying to the Academy," Spock added.

Leryn didn't want to be a part of this discussion. She hadn't been in the right frame of mind to take the test that day, and frankly didn't really care about her grades at the moment. "What if I don't apply to the Academy?" she shot back. "What then?"

"Since when did you decide you don't want to go to the Academy?" Nyota asked.

Leryn shrugged. "I don't know." It wasn't that she REALLY didn't want to go, but it seemed to be an easy connection that if she wasn't going to apply, she didn't need statistical mechanics or elementary robotics, or the other crazy things that would be part of her course load for the next couple of years. If she wasn't applying to the Academy, then school wouldn't be so important anymore.

"What do you propose as a career plan instead?" Spock asked.

"I don't know! I'm fourteen; why do I have to make all these decisions now?"

Spock and Nyota shared a look; fourteen had been practically an adult to Leryn a couple weeks ago, so what had happened since then? "Is everything okay?" Nyota asked her daughter.

"It's fine," she tightly replied. "Can I go to my room now?"

"Speak to your teacher tomorrow about making up your exam," Spock told her. "It is illogical to purposely undermine your education."

She glared as she got up. "I guess it's too bad for you that I'm not like the little princess, huh?" she sarcastically referred to her sister. "Then I wouldn't be so horrible and illogical."

"Leryn, wait," Nyota started to call after her, but she went into her bedroom and shut the door. She sighed. "I don't know whether to go after her or let her cool off first. What is going on with her?"

"I am uncertain."

"Amanda HAS been getting a lot of your attention recently. Maybe you could spend the afternoon with Leryn tomorrow? Work on putting her bot back together?"

Spock nodded. "I will ask her once she has 'cooled off,' as you put it."

"We should take shore leave the next time we get a chance. All of us go down to the surface and camp out or something. Spend time together. Things have been so busy lately; do you remember the last time we both had the same day off?"

He considered it. "I do not."

"I think both the girls could use some family time away from all the issues on the ship."

"Agreed."

* * *

Leryn was quiet at dinner that night, and her parents decided not to force it. They didn't bring up the subject of her test or her change in plans with regards to the Academy, and instead talked about random events around the ship or topics Amanda brought up. It worried Leryn to some degree that they didn't make her explain herself. Were they finally at the point of just giving up on her? After all, if she didn't want to conform to their ideals, they still had Amanda as a do-over. It wasn't like she was really their kid.

As she sat on her bed that night, contemplating the situation, Leryn sighed as she heard Amanda begin playing the same four lines of a song on Spock's lyre for at least the 15th time in a row. "Give it a rest, would you?" she told the little girl.

The music stopped. "Huh?"

"You're obviously not getting any better at that stanza, so give it up for the night and practice some more when I don't have to listen to it."

Amanda frowned. "I AM getting better," she protested. "I only made 2 mistakes that time. Quitting now would be illogical."

"I am sick to death of that word! Logic is stupid."

"It is not! You're stupid. You don't understand 'cause you're not Vulcan."

Leryn was fully aware that she shouldn't take her anger out on her sister, but Amanda was an easy and convenient target. "You're not actually Vulcan," she told the little girl. "You're just a little human freak with green blood. I don't know why you think they're so great; it's not like they would want you anyway. Or Papa."

"Do, too!"

"Do not. Why do you think he's here instead of on the colony? They've hated him his whole life and they'd hate you, too. There's nothing all that special about being Vulcan, so you might as well stop pretending. You're not that good at it." Amanda's lip trembled, and Leryn instantly felt bad. She'd gone WAY too far. "Amanda – " she started, but the little girl fled the room before she could get any farther.

After locking the bathroom door behind her, Amanda slid down the wall to sit on the floor, curling up with her knees tucked under her chin. "Don't cry," she ordered herself, even as a single tear already escaped. She quickly wiped it away. "Vulcans don't cry. Can't cry, or Daddy won't be happy…"

* * *

Two days later, the Enterprise was approaching its next destination: the planet Nafon. The Nafoni had been interested in having set relations with the Federation for the last few years – or at least the majority of the planet had. The minority government, which was in charge of one of the planet's three continents, was quite content to remain isolated from the galaxy. The Enterprise had been sent to meet with representatives from both governments and see if something could be worked out.

As they slipped into orbit, they received a hail from the surface. "I'm Captain Jim Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise," Kirk introduced himself to the woman on the screen.

She bowed her head slightly in greeting. "I am Agima, Prime Minister of the Nafoni. Welcome."

"Thank you. We are ready to receive the shuttle with the delegation from your world."

"We will be launching shortly." The screen went dark, and Kirk settled back into his chair.

"Well, this should be fun," he sarcastically muttered. "Remind me of the protocol for meeting with the Nafoni?" he asked Nyota. She pulled up a file on her screen.

"It's a ritual before their gatherings for everyone to display empty hands as a gesture that no concealed weapons have been brought to the table…Hostilities run deep between the two bodies of government."

"No kidding."

She ran through a few other points that had been noted by other ships that had been to the planet. "I am detecting their shuttle leaving upper atmosphere, Captain," Chekov reported. "They are on course to rendezvous with the Enterprise."

"Thank you, Mr. Chekov. Oh, and don't even think that you're abandoning me to do this on my own," he told Nyota.

She smiled innocently. "The girls need dinner."

"I'm pretty sure your husband can handle that; he's off duty. You're not getting out of this one."

"Fine."

"They are entering the shuttlebay," Chekov spoke up again.

"Good; we'll meet them in the conference room. Come on," he told Nyota. However, he didn't get more than two steps from his chair before the ship jolted, the floor pulling away from everyone's feet and tossing several people from their chairs. The alert lights began to flash and sirens started to blare. "What the hell just happened?" Kirk asked.

"Sensors report an explosion, Captain," Chekov told him, "In the shuttlebay. There is major damage to the engineering section of the ship!"

* * *

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

The view from space of the Enterprise's gaping wound was pretty terrifying. Twisted debris protruded at strange angles or quietly floated away from the ship. Fires burned anywhere that they could get enough oxygen to do so. None of the crew on the bridge could see this, however. They were reliant on the sensors to know how bad things were, but those were giving a pretty frightening picture of what had happened. The explosion in the shuttlebay had torn through multiple surrounding decks, wreaking havoc with the ship's systems and depressurizing several sections.

"We have casualty reports coming from multiple decks," Nyota reported to Kirk.

"Break orbit," he told Sulu. "Get us out of range of anything else they wanna shoot at us."

"Warp engines are down, impulse isn't responding," he replied. "Power to most of the thrusters has been cut."

"An EPS conduit in engineering has ruptured," Chekov pointed out. "They are reporting several casualties."

"Damnit," Kirk muttered. "Got us right in the heart."

* * *

As Kirk had pointed out earlier, Spock had been home with Leryn and Amanda when the explosion occurred.

"What was that?" Leryn asked as the ship's alarms began to play.

Spock headed for the computer terminal in their quarters and quickly sifted through information from the sensors. They were losing power to critical systems, and perhaps worst of all, antimatter containment was beginning to lose integrity. There wasn't a lot of time. "Stay here," he told his daughters as he headed for the door.

"Wait, Papa! What's going on?"

"The ship is in great danger; I must go to assist the crew." He started to leave, but thought of one more thing to tell his eldest. "If the order is given to abandon the ship, do not wait for me or your mother. Take your sister to our assigned station immediately. Someone will ensure that you are cared for."

That told Leryn everything she needed to know about how bad this was. "You're going to come, too, right?" she asked her father.

"I will do everything I can to join you," he replied before walking out the door.

Amanda was practically in tears. "I'm scared," she told her sister. Leryn took her hand.

"I know. I am, too."

* * *

Spock made his way through the ship as quickly as possible, avoiding the turbolifts that were likely to become stalled at any moment as power failures cascaded across the Enterprise's systems. On his way to Engineering, he was joined by members of the medical team and other engineering crewmembers who had been off duty and were now racing to try and help.

"Close off those conduits!" Scotty was yelling to one of the crewmen when they arrived in engineering. The Scotsman was holding his injured right arm with his left one; it appeared he'd dislocated his shoulder.

"Containment status?" Spock asked him as one of the med techs began to examine his arm.

"92% and falling. We can't seem to get ahead of the system failures!"

"If the anti-matter containment field integrity reaches 86%, we must eject the warp core before it breaches."

"I wish we could," Scotty replied. "Automatic ejection systems are offline."

"Then enable the manual controls."

"We had to evacuate that section; it's flooded with Nyocene gas. We've been attempting to transfer functions from those stations, but – " He was interrupted when a shower of sparks emanated from a panel above them as it blew out. The crewman who had unfortunately been standing at that panel screamed as he was burned. The med tech that had been tending to Scotty headed off.

"Containment's at 91%!" someone called out. The chief engineer cursed under his breath.

Spock looked across the room toward the sealed blast doors that had cut Engineering into two sections. If they couldn't get control of the anti-matter systems or eject the core, their only option would be evacuating the ship. However, that process would be nearly impossible due to the damage to the shuttlebay and the ships it housed. There was no way of knowing how many lives would be lost, but the number would be high. The thought that his family would be among them made his next decision much easier. "I will activate the manual systems," he stated.

"You'll what?" Scotty asked. "Are you out of your bloody mind? You can't survive in there!"

"My body requires less oxygen than a human's," Spock reminded him. "I can reach the controls and reactivate the systems."

Scotty was fully aware that the Vulcan hadn't mentioned his ability to then get back out. "But – "

"There is insufficient time to argue this."

"Kirk to Engineering," the captain's voice cut through the comm. system. "Give me some good news, Scotty; containment's down to 90%." Spock took advantage of the momentary distraction to head down the stairs and across engineering.

"Spock!" Scotty yelled after him when he noticed. "Bloody hell…We've lost power to the ejection systems," he reported to Kirk. "Commander Spock is attempting to reactivate manual controls."

* * *

Standing in the middle of his rather chaotic bridge, Kirk frowned. "What's Spock doing in Engineering?" he wondered aloud.

"Trying to get himself killed, from the look of things," Scotty replied. "The section with the controls is filled with Nyocene."

"Spock, what are you doing?" Nyota asked as she stood.

"If we are unable to restore containment or eject the core, the ship will be destroyed," he replied.

"You can't do this," she pleaded, although she already knew that it was no use.

"I cannot conceive of any alternative options," he replied. "Jim?" he asked his friend.

"Spock, we'll figure out something else," the captain tried to convince him.

"Although I programmed the Kobyashi Maru scenario, I was never forced to take the test – until now. It is an interesting challenge." Kirk was left dumbfounded, completely speechless.

The bridge was silent, save the alarms that continued to play. It seemed like everyone was waiting together, collectively holding their breath in anticipation. The overlays on the viewscreen displayed the current status of the containment system: 89%. Main power was about to fail; auxiliary systems were only at half power. The Enterprise was dying right underneath Kirk's feet and he felt powerless to stop it.

"Containment integrity is increasing!" Chekov exclaimed. The number displayed on the screen was back to 90%.

"Spock, you did it, get out of there!" Kirk called over the comm. system. However, there was no answer. "Spock, can you hear me?" Nothing. "Have we lost transporters?" he asked Chekov.

He checked. "No, Captain, not yet."

"Be grateful for small miracles. Kirk to transporter room, lock onto Commander Spock's signal in engineering and beam him straight to sickbay."

"An intra-ship transport, Sir?" the crewman on duty asked.

"I'm fully aware of the risk, but it's his only chance. Do it!"

* * *

The ship was no longer in imminent danger of being destroyed, but they still had a long way to go to get everything back online. Kirk knew that while his communications officer could be completely professional and continue her job, it seemed cruel to force her to do so. Nyota headed straight for sickbay once she was relieved, and stopped in shock as she came through the door. It seemed like she'd wandered into a war zone; burned, broken, and bleeding crewmen were everywhere around her. She finally saw McCoy on the far side of the room, desperately working to save the man on the bed in front of him – her husband.

His face and arms were covered in angry-looking chemical burns. He wasn't breathing on his own; one of the nurses was manually operating a respirator to force air into his lungs since they didn't have the power to run the device automatically.

"Stay back," McCoy cautioned when he noticed her standing beside the bed.

"Is he…Is…" she couldn't force herself to finish the question.

The doctor held her gaze for a long moment. "I don't know," he finally replied.

* * *

TBC...

**A/N: Cliffhanger two chapters in a row. I'm so mean, aren't I? Thanks for all the feedback I received! It made a very frustrating weekend a little bit better, so keep it coming. :-)  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Main power was in the process of being restored by the time Leryn and Amanda got to sickbay. Thruster control was back online, so at least the ship wasn't slowly falling out of orbit anymore. The USS Challenger was on its way to rendezvous with them and offer assistance.

Amanda quickly made her way over to her mother and threw herself into her arms. Nyota held her close. "It's okay," she told the little girl. "I'm here."

"I was scared," she whimpered, starting to cry.

"I know you were. I'm sorry I wasn't there." Amanda was basically unintelligible at that point, so Nyota just held her.

Leryn was standing beside them, staring at her father in utter shock. "Is…is Papa…" she stuttered a few times, but couldn't force any other words out. Spock had always seemed so strong, like stone. Now…now he looked as fragile as glass, and it was terrifying.

"Dr. McCoy's doing everything he can," Nyota told her.

Leryn started to reach out to take his hand, but thought better of it, seeing how badly his skin had been damaged. Treating the ugly burns was something that would have to wait until all of the equipment was functional again. "Does he hurt?" she asked.

Nyota bit her lip. "I'm not sure…He's sleeping right now, basically."

"When is he going to wake up?" Amanda asked between hiccups.

"We don't know. He needs rest to make sure he gets better. Um, Dr. McCoy said that he's probably doing a type of meditating, concentrating really hard on recovering."

They all stayed together in silence for a long while before McCoy approached. "We're going to take him for surgery," he told Nyota. She stood with Amanda in her arms.

"How long will it be?"

"Depends on how extensive the damage to his lungs is…Why don't you go on home? I'll contact you as soon as we know anything new."

Nyota shook her head. "No, I'm not going to leave him."

"Yes, you are," he shot back. "It's going to be a long night, one that they don't need to be here for." The doctor gestured to her daughters. After a pause, she finally nodded.

* * *

Nyota was still carrying Amanda by the time they got back to their quarters, but she finally put the little girl down once they were inside. "Go get your pajamas on, princess," she told the little girl. "It's past your bedtime." She obediently headed for her room. "Wouldn't hurt you to get some sleep, too," she told Leryn.

"Okay."

Nyota went into her own bedroom. A few items had fallen from their places when the ship had been rocked by the explosion, and she carefully righted each one. After sitting down on the bed, she looked around the room for a long moment. It now all appeared just as it had that morning when she left for her shift, but it was possible that nothing was ever going to be the same. There was a non-zero chance that she'd never share her bed with her husband again. The thought made her feel sick.

"Mom?" a voice asked, and she turned to see Leryn and Amanda in the doorway, both clad in pajamas. "We...we were wondering if we could sleep with you tonight?"

Nyota swallowed a sob as she nodded. "Come on."

* * *

Amanda soon fell asleep, but Leryn and Nyota remained awake. "Mom?" she asked into the darkness at one point.

"Mmm-hmm?"

"The ship came really close to being destroyed, didn't it?"

"Yeah…yeah, it did."

Leryn nodded slowly. "I could feel it…it was just like that on the ship I was born on."

Nyota threaded her fingers through her daughter's. "I'm sorry; that must have been scary."

"Yeah…What's going to happen to us now?"

"I don't know yet. The ship took a lot of damage…Don't worry about that tonight, okay? You should get some rest." She thought for a long moment that Leryn had complied, but then she heard her voice again.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to tell you something…and you're probably going to get mad at me, but I don't care. I need you to know."

That had her attention. "Okay."

"I snuck out one night while I was grounded. After everyone was asleep. I went to go see Ryan."

Nyota slowly nodded. If she was making this confession after getting away with it, then there was a short list of reasons why. "What did he do?" she asked.

"Nothing. I mean, he tried to…I don't know what he was really trying to do – and have tried not to think about it – but I know that I didn't want him to do it."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, he just…he was kissing me, but I didn't like that he was touching me. I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet."

"Keep thinking that for another few years," she told her daughter.

Leryn cracked a smile. "You were right, Mom."

"About what?"

"Fourteen isn't THAT old. There's a lot of things I can do now that I couldn't when I was little like Amanda, but there are a lot of things I wouldn't want to have to worry about. When me and Amanda were here before, waiting to see if the ship would be okay…I thought about what it would be like i-if something happened to you and Papa. I know it's selfish, but I didn't want to have to take care of her. I'm not ready."

"I know that we expect you to look out for your sister, but we'd never expect you to have to take care of her on your own. We haven't talked about it before, because we didn't want to scare you, but…if something did happen to me and…" She wasn't able to finish that thought, but that didn't matter. "We've made sure you'd be taken care of. Preferably still on this ship, but if that wasn't possible, it would be up to your grandparents – my parents and Sarek – to determine what would be best."

"You mean we might get split up? Me on Earth and Amanda on Vulcan?"

"Nothing's set in stone. It would depend a lot on how old you were at the time. You wouldn't be living together anyway if you were already in college… Although, I guess we don't know where that will be anymore, do we?"

Leryn sighed. "Can I tell you something else?"

"Go ahead."

"I don't really not want to go to the Academy…I'm not sure why I said it. I thought there would be a bigger reaction, though."

"We were definitely surprised…did you think we'd be upset?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've always said that I wanted to go."

"You were very young when you made that decision. I think we've always wondered if it was what you really wanted, or what you thought we wanted."

"Don't you want me to go?"

"We want you to do whatever will make you happy."

"But you'll make Amanda go, won't you?"

Nyota frowned. "No, we want her to do what's going to make her happy, too…Why would you think that we would want things differently for her?"

"Because she's really your kid."

"You've been 'really our kid' for six years."

"It's not the same…I guess I've always thought that eventually I wouldn't matter as much, since you have her."

"Leryn, that's not going to happen."

"How do you know? I mean, people get divorced from somebody they chose to be with for the rest of their lives. How do you know you won't change your mind about me?"

"Because a child is different, regardless of where they come from. I don't even know if I can put it into words, but…you're waiting and preparing yourself for something that isn't going to come." Leryn was quiet. "How long have you been silently stewing on this?"

"I don't know. A while."

"I wish you would have told me."

She shrugged. "I kind of always hoped I was wrong, but was afraid that if I actually asked, I'd find out that I wasn't."

Nyota held her closer. "You and Amanda both were the best surprises your father and I could have asked for. As you get older, we're probably going to butt heads on some things, but that's only because we want what's best for you. Don't ever doubt or forget how much we love you."

Leryn didn't answer for a long moment. "We…" she finally repeated, considering the word. "Mom? Is Papa really going to get better, or is that just what you're telling Amanda so she won't be scared?"

"I…I don't know. I'm praying that Dr. McCoy is right – that he's going to come back to us – but I don't know."

* * *

TBC...

**A/N: Kudos who everyone who recognized the ties with Star Trek II. I was never a fan of TOS until ST2009, and now I think that's at the top of my list for the original movies. There will be more ties with the prime universe, but you'll just have to keep reading to find out how. :-) And, as always, thanks for the feedback!**


	10. Chapter 10

Days began to creep by, but there was no change. Although all external damage had been healed, Spock remained comatose in sickbay, and there was nothing else the medical staff could do. Amanda's sixth birthday was only a couple days away by this point, but no one was really in the mood to celebrate.

After four days of round-the-clock work, warp power had been restored. The Challenger had joined them and her captain had loaned out several of his engineers. From what they'd been able to tell by communicating with the surface, the explosion had been an act of terrorism on the part of the minority government on Nafon. The Federation had decided to remove themselves from the middle of the battle between factions on the planet, so Enterprise was carefully making its way back to Earth for repairs. Challenger was acting as an escort/possible rescue vehicle since Scotty wasn't entirely sure that the ship would be able to hold together for the entire journey. Very many things were uncertain onboard the starship at the moment.

McCoy wasn't surprised to see two figures appear in the doorway to sickbay at almost exactly 1530 hours. Leryn and Amanda had been there at the same time – as soon as school finished – every day for the past week. He didn't need to say anything, merely nodded a hello as they made their way through sickbay toward their father's bed. Leryn took her customary seat and pulled out an assignment to work on. However, Amanda remained standing, held her father's hand within both of hers, and closed her eyes. Leryn frowned when she noticed.

"What are you doing?" she asked her little sister.

"Trying to talk to Daddy. I have to concentrate."

She gave the little girl a sad smile. "You've always been a really weak telepath, midget. It's not going to work."

"I can feel emotions sometimes, if they're strong," she argued. "I have to try. I have to do something to help Daddy."

"Mom said it helps just for him to know we're here."

"But how does she know for sure?" Leryn didn't have a good answer for that one. "I have to try to talk to him. He has to be better for my birthday." With that, she once again closed her eyes and concentrated. When she looked up again a few minutes later, Leryn was watching her.

"Anything?" she asked. Amanda shook her head, biting back tears. She knew that crying was illogical, but at the same time it seemed so very logical to be upset about her father. The thought that she needed him awake to explain the contradiction only made her feel worse.

Leryn noticed her sister's brimming eyes. "Hey, it's okay," she told her. "It was a really good idea. Remember what Dr. McCoy told us? Papa's concentrating really hard on getting better right now, so he probably just doesn't have the energy to talk to you, too."

Amanda looked away. "I want Daddy to wake up now."

"I do, too…You know, it's pretty neat that you wanted to try to do that."

"You said I shouldn't try to do Vulcan things."

"I know, but sometimes I say stupid stuff. I didn't mean it, and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

Amanda smiled a little. "It's okay."

Leryn put down her homework. "This stuff can wait until later. How about we read _Falor's Journey_ for Papa? He always likes when we do it together, right?" She nodded.

* * *

As always, Nyota came to get them after she was done with her shift. They had finished reading their story by the time she arrived, and were instead telling their father about what they'd been doing in school. "Let's go get dinner," she quietly said as she stood behind the girls.

"Bye, Daddy," Amanda told him, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Papa," Leryn added. "Maybe tomorrow you'll be better." The same wish was made every evening.

They had dinner in the mess hall, and the girls had to work on their homework once they got back to their quarters. Amanda needed help with geometry, and by the time she was finished, it was her bedtime. Nyota tucked her in and toggled the switch on her nightstand that turned out the lights

"Sweet dreams," she told her daughter.

Amanda curled up with her bear. "Night-night, Mommy."

Out in the living room, Leryn was working on finishing up her own homework. "How was school?" Nyota asked her as she tried to straighten things up a little.

Leryn shrugged. "Okay…Mostly I've just been doing my work and leaving."

"I know you've been through a lot – and we're still going through a lot – but don't lose your friendships. I promise you that not all boys are like Ryan."

She smiled slightly. "I guess Papa's proof of that, right?"

Nyota laughed. "Yes. Most people thought he was a block of granite, but your father's one of the gentlest people I've ever known. You just have to get let in first to know that."

Leryn considered that. "Hey, Mom…I've done the math. You and Papa were together while you were still his student, weren't you?"

She blushed slightly. "Yes."

"I'm impressed you got him to break the rules."

"It wasn't easy," she returned, "But it was worth it…" Looking around the room, Nyota realized that she hadn't really been cleaning up so much as just moving random items from one place to another. She had a store of extra energy that had come from nowhere and she wasn't sure how to get rid of it. "Will you be okay here with your sister for a little bit?" she asked. "She should be asleep by now. I just…I need to take a walk."

Leryn nodded. "Sure, I can get her back in bed if she wakes up…Tell Papa we love him, okay?" she asked, assuming what her mother's destination would be.

Nyota smiled. "I will. Don't stay up too late."

* * *

She took a lap around the deck before heading to sickbay, trying to get her thoughts in order. It didn't really work, however, and she felt even more energized by the time she was done. Slipping into the seat beside Spock's bed, she took his hand in both of hers.

"I wish you were here to logically analyze what's going on with me tonight," she quietly told him. "If this is supposed to be some warning, it needs to be clearer. And it needed to have come BEFORE you ended up in here."

Staring down at his motionless form almost brought her to tears. "Is it wrong that I don't want to go home? I don't want to sleep alone again. I've been trying to stay positive, but…I don't know what I'd do without you. Don't make our girls go through what you've suffered. They need both of their parents."

Nyota sat for a long moment, perhaps waiting for some type of reaction, some sign that he really could hear her – that he was trying to get better. There was nothing, however, and she silently chided herself for hoping. She pulled her chair a little closer to the bed so that she could lean against it, curled her legs up, and closed her eyes. Maybe if she got a little rest here, she'd be more put-together when she went back home.

* * *

Sickbay was still darkened when she awoke, so she knew that it was still the middle of the night. A computer display on the wall near the bed informed her that it was 0316. A blanket had been draped over her body, and she assumed that McCoy had done it before leaving for the night. She got up and began to fold it back up, trying to stretch out the crick in her neck.

As she turned to say good-bye to her husband, her heart stopped. His eyes were open, watching her. "Spock?" she whispered. "Can you hear me?"

He tried to say something in reply, but his voice was painfully hoarse and the word was unintelligible.

"Shh, shh," she told him. "It's okay. Don't talk."

He reached one hand up to wipe away the tears on her cheek, tears she didn't even realize had fallen. She gave a watery laugh as she caught his fingers and held them within hers. The fact that he actually squeezed her hand back was overwhelming. "You were just trying my patience, weren't you?" she asked as she leaned over to kiss him.

"Kanu?" he finally managed to croak out in Vulcan. It was easier for his brain to process his first language at the moment than worry about English.

"The girls are fine," she replied. "They're at home. Oh, they're going to be so happy when they hear you're okay."

"Hali?" was his next question, inquiring about the Enterprise.

"We're still in one piece for the moment. We'll see how long we get laid up in space dock. You did it, Spock. You saved everyone."

He nodded slightly before his eyes slid shut, and for one terrifying moment, Nyota thought he was going back to sleep. However, he looked back up at her a moment later and forced out one more word, "Ashau."

Her tears spilled again. "I love you, too."

* * *

TBC...

**A/N: Did you really think I'd kill him? :-) Thanks for all the feedback!**


	11. Chapter 11

Two days later, Spock decided he was leaving sickbay with or without McCoy's permission. It wasn't too surprising that it ended up being without.

"Are you out of your mind?" the doctor asked his patient as the Vulcan calmly got finished getting his socks and shoes on. "You can barely stand! If you were anyone else, you wouldn't even still be alive."

"I have somewhere that I need to be," was all that he replied.

"Look, Spock, I can understand what you're trying to do, but it's not going to help her if you end up collapsing – or worse."

"I will be fine, Doctor. If it makes you feel better, I will return here as soon as the event is over."

McCoy rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, I feel completely better now."

Spock looked up as the door opened and his family entered sickbay. Amanda quickly made her way over to him. "Hi, Daddy! I'm six now!"

"Indeed you are."

Nyota smiled at her husband and she and Leryn joined them. "She wanted to stop by and see you before the party. And we'll come back afterward with some food, have our own little family celebration."

"That will not be necessary," Spock told her. "I will accompany you to the mess hall."

Amanda's eyes instantly lit up. "Really, Daddy?"

Nyota was surprised. "Are you sure you're up for it?" she asked him, looking to McCoy for confirmation.

"Oh, look, someone who thinks a doctor's opinion is worth something!" he sniped.

"I will be fine," Spock asserted.

* * *

Just to be sure, however, Nyota insisted that her husband spend most of the event in a chair. It was obvious that the walk from sickbay to the mess hall sapped a lot of his energy.

Considering how hastily the event had been thrown together, it was nicely executed. Things around the ship had been rather subdued recently, given the damage it had endured and the lives that had been lost. However, everyone knew they needed to start living again; surviving the bad days was what made good days even better.

Upon arriving in the mess hall, Amanda quickly disappeared to say hello to her friends. Leryn had been allowed to invite her friend, Sierra, so that she had someone to talk to besides the younger kids or her parents. The children ran around and played a few games before having cake and watching Amanda open her gifts. They started to play again afterward, but Nyota caught her youngest before she got too involved.

"I think your father has something for you," she told her.

Amanda made her way over to where Spock was sitting. "Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked.

She beamed. "Uh-huh. This is the best birthday ever!"

"I wished to give you your present now. I hope that it is to your liking." He indicated a wrapped object that was sitting over by the wall. Amanda hurriedly tore off the paper and found her very own lyre underneath.

"Wow," she cried, jumping up to give him a hug. "Thank you!"

"You are welcome. Once I have recovered, we can continue your lessons."

That last word made Amanda freeze. Her father had been referring to her music lessons, but she suddenly realized that she hadn't thought much at all about her other lessons, her emotional training, since the explosion. She certainly hadn't been following what her father had taught her. She had let her emotions have complete control of her, a recognition that brought a slight tinge to her face as she blushed. "Sorry, Daddy," she whispered.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"I forgot how I'm supposed to behave…Are you angry?" she timidly inquired.

"Why would I be upset with you?"

"Because I'm not being Vulcan…I'm not being logical. And if I'm not logical, then you won't like me anymore."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "That is an interesting, if unfounded theory."

"You got mad at Leryn when she wasn't being logical," Amanda pointed out. Spock started to piece her thought train together.

"Did you believe that I would stop caring for you or your sister if you were unlike me?"

"Won't you?"

Spock took her hand. "Your mother is unlike me in many ways. I appreciate our differences very much and learn from them. She is one of the three most important things in my life."

"So I should be like Mommy?" Amanda asked, confused.

Spock shook his head. "You should endeavor to be yourself."

She frowned. "I don't know who I am."

"I am aware. But you are learning every day. And know that whoever you become, I – and your mother – will always love you."

* * *

Once Spock was released from sickbay, he was supposed to take it easy for the rest of the Enterprise's cruise back to Earth, but there was one other thing that he needed to take care of. Nyota had tried to keep from him what had happened with Leryn until he was stronger, but she'd never been able to convincingly hide anything from her husband.

Spock toggled the door chime for the door in front of him and waited for it to be answered. Lieutenant Harrington looked somewhat surprised when the doors slid open and he saw the ship's first officer.

"Commander. What can I do for you?" Spock handed him a PADD. "What is this?"

"A video file from the internal sensor logs. You will find it interesting."

The man frowned, but started to play the file. His eyes widened as he saw the image of his son and Leryn from their late night misadventure. He stopped the file - almost afraid of what would come next - when he saw Ryan pin Leryn down. "Um, Sir – "

"I am aware, Lieutenant," Spock cut him off, "That your wife asked that your son be allowed to live on the ship because he was having difficulties on Earth. I can sympathize with the challenges of raising an adolescent. However, if you wish for him to be welcome on any Starfleet vessel at the present or in the future, I suggest that you put a stop to this type of behavior – before someone else must do it for you." The fact that he could deliver that threat with the same tone as someone asking about the weather made it even more unnerving.

The Lieutenant nodded. "Y-yes, Sir. Understood...Is she all right? Your daughter, I mean."

"She will be," Spock replied before turning to leave.

The Lieutenant went back inside of his quarters, lost in thought. How the hell could his son do something like that - and to the Commander's daughter of all people?!

"Hey, Dad," Ryan said as he came out of his bedroom. "When are we going to dinner?"

His father sighed. "Sit down, son."

He frowned. "Why?"

"Just sit down! We apparently need to have a talk..."

* * *

The Enterprise arrived at the Earth-orbiting space dock a few days later. Everyone was allowed at least a week of shore leave while evaluations of the ship's condition and necessary repairs were made.

Nyota and Spock took Leryn and Amanda to visit Nyota's parents in Africa. The girls loved the chance to explore the remaining wilds of the region that was once known as Tanzania. They could stargaze and see animals and get some home-cooked meals that were far superior to anything served on the ship.

At the end of the week, Kirk called a meeting at Starfleet Headquarters with the ship's senior staff to discuss what was coming next.

"I'd imagine you were all hoping that we'd be getting back out of here pretty quickly," he told Spock, Nyota, Sulu, McCoy, Chekov, and Scotty. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's going to happen..."

* * *

TBC...

**A/N: ****One chapter left to go... **


	12. Epilogue

"I'd imagine you were all hoping that we'd be getting back out of here pretty quickly. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Apparently we've put a lot more miles on the Enterprise than they believed any crew would do before its 15th year."

"There're a lot of miles left on that young lady, too!" Scotty protested.

"I completely agree," Kirk assured him. "But my opinion isn't the one that matters." He walked over to the computer terminal on the wall and keyed a few buttons. A few schematics of a ship appeared. "Meet the Federation's new flagship," he told them. "USS Excelsior. Prototype for its class. Equipped with a transwarp drive, it's going to be the fastest in the fleet."

"It won't be complete for another year," Chekov pointed out.

"Starfleet's hoping for nine months," Kirk told him with a shrug. "We'll see how that works out."

"Like a square rolling down a hill, I'd imagine," Scotty grumbled.

"What's going to happen to the Enterprise?" Nyota asked.

"They're going to get her in working order again," Kirk explained, "But she won't be going back to the front lines. She'll be used for training Academy cadets and other school business."

"You've got to be kidding," Sulu said. "They're putting her out to pasture?"

"I prefer to think of it as an extended vacation," Kirk replied.

"You'll go nuts puttering around the solar system with a bunch of third and fourth years," McCoy told his friend.

Kirk smiled slightly. "Oh no, I've got a far worse fate waiting me. Apparently somebody's sick idea of a joke was to give me a promotion."

"An actual promotion?" McCoy asked. "You mean, to being an Admiral?" Kirk nodded. "Why?"

"Thanks, Bones," he sarcastically replied.

"Congratulations, Sir," Sulu told him, and the others also chipped in their best wishes.

"So who will command the Enterprise?" Chekov asked.

Kirk looked over at his best friend, who had remained quiet through the conversation so far. "Mr. Spock," he began, "I believe you are out of proper uniform."

Spock raised an eyebrow; he knew with absolute certainty that this was not the case…unless… "My apologies, Admiral," he replied, playing along. "What correction should be made?"

Kirk pulled an item out of the case that was sitting on the conference room table – a yellow duty uniform shirt. "Different color and an extra stripe," he told his friend as he handed it to him. "The Enterprise is yours, Captain Spock…Do me a favor and try not to take her into another Kobyashi Maru scenario anytime soon, huh? Leave that to the simulators here at the Academy."

Spock gave a slight nod. "I will endeavor to follow that advice."

* * *

FIN.

**A/N: At with that, the saga comes to a close (at least for now). Thank you so much to everyone who has been following along for the whole journey and especially to everyone who sent feedback. (If you haven't yet, it's not too late!) I've had a lot of fun with this and I hope you enjoyed reading it, too.**


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